The religion practiced in India believes in reincarnation of the soul. The birth takes place according to the karmas (actions) of the past births and its passage through the heavens and hells.
It is said that to achieve total liberation from this cycle of birth and death, one needs to take birth on earth. One can not get liberated completely from the heavens or hells. Earth is the place for the liberation of the soul. As said earlier, who will take birth where depends on several factors and appears to be a very complicated and automatic process. It is difficult to decipher this process.
Once decided, the soul takes birth on earth and the Indian scriptures mention that the position of the two luminaries and the seven planets (including the two nodes of the moon) in the skies with the background of the zodiac chart the course of the soul through its journey on earth. Once these heavenly bodies are plotted on a paper (as seen from earth at the time of birth of the soul); it defines all about the present life of the soul on earth.
Based on this map, an astrologer can predict the future events in the life of a person. He can gauge his appearance and his mental composition. He can foretell about his education, marriage, progeny, profession, death etcetera based on the positions of the planets on this map.
Does this mean that it is the end of the road for a person? Does he have no self-will? Perhaps he has. All those negative karmas of past births which were not very severe can be improved with the help of remedial measures available from an astrologer. The remedial measures include fasting, charity, wearing of semi-precious and precious stones, offering libations to the gods through fire, and other measures.
Thus an astrologer can help a person in predicting the course of future events and to some extent modifying the course to the person’s benefit. This is how astrology works and hence consulting an astrologer can bring about cures to maladies in life.